Going into the 2022–23 season, Grousbeck characterized Boston's team as "overrated" in an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe:
I genuinely enjoyed every moment of that [run to the Finals] as a member of the Celtics. On the other hand, I believe that we have now been overrated. When you reflect, Brooklyn was a difficult series, and then we had to play seven games [against Milwaukee and Miami], [we were] a finalist and two victories away from winning it. Then we fell short [against Golden State]. Therefore, we don't have a lock on repeating as Eastern Conference champs. I believe we have a strong team.
For his "quality squad," which boasts excellent roster continuity and is loaded with elite talent on both sides of the court, Grousbeck is purposefully lowering expectations.
In terms of offense, the Celtics placed top-10 in both Effective FG% and True Shooting% last year. They still center their offense around Jayson Tatum, one of the league's rising stars, and they also have the luxury of Jaylen Brown, another backup 22+ point scorer.
They ended the previous season with the league's top defensive rating on the other side of the court. They will bring back veteran Al Horford, the versatile Marcus Smart, the player with the third-best odds to win the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022–23, and Robert Williams.
Additionally, they increased their depth by bringing in dependable playmaker Malcolm Brogdon as a sixth player. Newcomer Danilo Gallinari tore his left ACL while competing for Italy's national team, which was their lone setback over the offseason.
It's understandable why the Celtics are the current favorites to win the NBA Championship at +550 on PointsBet, ahead of the Warriors (+650), Bucks (+650), Clippers (+700), and Nets (+800). Grousbeck, though, continues to open his wallet in order to bolster the roster even further. Even if Boston incurs a significant luxury tax, he claimed that team president Brad Stevens has the "go-ahead" to improve the team in any way he can.
We're spending, in my estimation, $200 million on the roster this year, and Brad is free to increase that amount. Additionally, we are now adding on totally. Are you planning to deal with young players under 30 and future draught picks? Let's hope not. But as this roster demonstrates, money is not a factor at all.
Why does Grousbeck loudly minimize his team's chances of winning the championship in 2022–2023? Later in the interview, he revealed it. There are now enormous expectations, and we are the favorites, he remarked. And under less stress, we fell apart last fall. Thus, I am nervous. But the betting markets are not.
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